1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to remodeling, designing and editing method and system for a printed wiring board in which the latest circuit data can be reflected by performing a wire disconnection or wiring by the use of jumper (hereinafter it is called jumper-wiring) on a previously provided printed wiring board to modify its circuit design, packaged on one component of a CAD system, i.e., a computer aided design system.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been extended to design for packaging a printed wiring board by employing a CAD system, i.e., computer aided design system, on one component.
In addition, there is a case where alternation of a packaged board is required on the previously provided printed circuit board due to modification or mis-designing of the circuit design. In this case, a remodeling, designing and editing method and system for a printed wiring board has been employed. In this method and system, the packaged CAD is used to edit and update the circuit design data.
On the other hand, there is a demand to easily execute actual editing operations at high speed when modifying the circuits on the previously provided printed wiring board with respect to a multi-layered or high-density, printed wiring board or a high-speeded circuit.
FIG. 10 shows one example of the conventional remodeling, designing and editing method and system for a printed wiring board. Pattern data, such as a via-hole VIA (hereinafter, it is called as a via for simplicity), which is a circuit pattern when creating a printed wiring board on the data base 1, data of the latest circuit on one printed wiring board to which altered sections are supplied, and remodeling data, such as data of disconnection or jumper-wiring when the alternation is executed by wiring disconnection or jumper-wiring, are stored in a database 1.
Additionally, the system of FIG. 10 comprises an editor 2 for remodeling, designing, and editing a printed wiring board having a display device. A controller in the editor 2 executes an automatic remodeling program 3 to activate an editing and checking controller 4. Then, the display controller 5 controls to display the result on the display device.
A remodeling, designing and editing method on the conventional system will be now explained.
FIG. 11 is a structural example of layers on a multi-layered printed wiring board. In this example, the board includes eight layers L1 to L8. The third layer L3 is an electric source, and the sixth layer L6 is an earth layer, both of which surfaces are conductive. The other layers are signal layers. The first layer L1 is for a component plane, and the sixth layer is for a soldering plane.
In this example, when the circuit is modified by disconnecting a wire, it is possible to respectively disconnect the first and second layers L1 and L2 from the component plane side, and the eighth and seventh layers L8 and L7 from the soldering plane side by radiating a laser beam. Since the fourth and fifth layers L4 and L5 may be through the conductive layers L3 and L6, it is impossible to disconnect these layers L4 and L5 even by radiating the laser beam.
A previously designed circuit pattern, as shown in FIG. 12, in the structure for a multi-layered printed wiring board will be now considered. That is, the circuit of FIG. 12 has a connection pattern of A-B-C-D. V1 and V2 are vias of the printed wiring board. In FIG. 12, L1, L2, L5, L8 are connections of the corresponding signal layers. Therefore, the circuit pattern of FIG. 12 forms a packaging connection structure shown in FIG. 13.
The connection pattern A-B-C-D of the multi-layered printed wiring board is modified to A-B-D as data of the latest connection pattern. Therefore, the patterns A-B-C-D and A-B-C are respectively stored as the previously provided pattern data and data of the latest connection pattern in the database 1.
The editing and checking controller 4 compares these patterns. The editor 2 displays the result, such as a circuit pattern shown in FIG. 12, under the control of the display controller 5. In this example, a part of the pattern of FIG. 12 can be enlarged and displayed by a designer's instruction from a mouse.
In FIG. 12, the different point between the previously provided connection pattern and the latest connection pattern is a connection between a via V2 and C. This difference is called an error, hereinafter. Accordingly, the error between the via V2 and C is emphasized by displaying a wire L5 by a bold line, or displaying it with a specified color, for example.
Accordingly, the designer detects the error-emphasized section with his own eyes and inputs a disconnecting instruction on the editor 2. Then, the designer should consider reducing the number of disconnecting instructions.
In this example, the editing and checking controller 4 can edit two layers, concurrently, in order to avoid from complication of editing. Therefore, a designer should consider a disconnection processing between V2 and C belonging to the error-displayed section for editing L1 and L8 layers in order to reduce the number of the disconnecting instructions at first. However, a connection between V2 and C is belonging to the L5 layer, and this connection can not be edited. Therefore, L1 and L5 layers are used for editing. However, the L5 layer, to which the connection between V2 and C is belonging, can not be disconnected as explained above.
Accordingly, the editing and checking controller 4 informs the disability of disconnection to the designer. Therefore, the designer moves the enlarged and displayed section by a mouse to obtain a section where an error is not emphasized to be edited. The designer sees the disconnected section line and selects L2 and L8 layers to be edited. Then, the designer instructs a disconnection between V2 and V1, and further instructs a disconnection between V2 and D.
After that, the designer instructs wiring between V1 and D, now shown in the diagram. Thereby, the pattern is modified to a connection pattern of A-B-D.
The database 1 stores disconnection data between V2 and V1 and jumper-wiring data between V1 and D as remodeling data.
Further, FIGS. 14A, 14B and 14C are explanatory diagrams for editing when remodeling a circuit pattern by adding, deleting or moving components in the system of FIG. 10. In FIG. 14A, components I10 and I20 are provided on a previously designed printed wiring board. A display sample of "STEP 1" is displayed on the editor 2. Then, a designer instructs to delete the component I10.
As a result, an image of the component I10 is not displayed, and only lands are displayed, as shown in a display sample of STEP 2, under the control of the display controller 5.
Additionally, FIG. 14B shows editing processing when a component I30 is newly added to an idle space of the printed wiring board on the display example STEP 1. The board on the STEP 2 shows an example where the designer instructs to arrange the component I30 on a position of a space I. The board of the STEP 3 shows an example where the designer instructs to add the component I30 on a position of the previously provided component R10.
In this case, if there is no land on the position where the designer instructs to add the new component, i.e., STEP 2 of FIG. 14B, this circuit cannot be remodeled, and therefore, this instruction is refused by the editing and checking controller 4. Further, the component R10 is arranged on a position where the designer instructs to add the new component. In other words, different components are overlapped and located on the same land on STEP 3 of FIG. 14B. Similarly to the above-described case, the editing and checking controller 4 refuses this instruction.
Further, if a designer instructs to move the component I10, the land on the original position can not be displayed after moving the component, as shown in STEP 2 of FIG. 4C.
FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a problem that automatic wiring is indistinguishable from manual remodeling on the system of FIG. 10. That is, connection patterns of the previously designed printed wiring board are A-B-C and X-Y-Z, and only the pattern A-B-C is modified to a connection pattern between A and B in FIG. 5. Then, if a connection pattern between X and Y is disconnected by mistake, the editing and checking controller 4 generates jumper-wiring data to automatically recovery the disconnection.
As described above, in remodeling, designing and editing method for a printed wiring board on the conventional system of FIG. 10, as explained in accompanying with FIGS. 11 to 13, a designer should check the error-displayed pattern with his own eyes, confirm the contents of the error, and judge which section is shorted or in which section connections lack. Additionally, the concurrently editable layer is limited to two. Therefore, performance of editing operations becomes lower, and therefore, the efficiency of the operations also becomes lower.
Further, as explained in FIGS. 14A, 14B, 14C, when deleting, adding, and moving a new component, an image of the original component is lost after deleting the component, a new component can not be added on a position where there is no land or a position where the previously provided component and the new one are overlapped, and further, the lands are disappeared from the original position after moving the component.
Furthermore, as explained regarding FIGS. 15A, B, a jumper-wiring is automatically generated in a section disconnected by a mistake. However, this is a remodeling procedure for a section not to be modified. Therefore, there is no operational procedure except a manually editing procedure after automatically remodeling. This makes the efficiency of remodeling operations be lower.